Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310/300d, was written in 1778. The A minor sonata is the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in a minor key (the other being No. 14 in C minor, K. 457). It was composed in the summer of 1778 around the time of his mothers death, one of the most tragic times of his life.^[1]

Background

Little is known about the precise circumstances surrounding the composition of the sonata, unlike the earlier Sonata in C major, K. 309/284b it was little mentioned in his correspondence.^[2] The manuscript which survives, was written using the same type of paper that was used for the Symphony in D major, K. 297/300a which Mozart purchased while in Paris.^[3]

Structure

The composition which typically takes around 22 minutes to perform is in three movements:

	Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor 1. Allegro maestoso 2. Andante cantabile con espressione 3. Presto performed by Randolph Hokanson
Problems playing these files? See media help.

1. Allegro maestoso, common time
2. Andante cantabile con espressione, F major, 3/4
3. Presto, 2/4

References

Notes

Sources

• Anderson, Keith (1990). Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 (CD). Naxos Records. 8.550445. 
• Irving, John (1997). Mozart's Piano Sonatas: Contexts, Sources, Style. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-49631-4. 
• Jaffe, Jane Vial (2015). "Program Notes: Piano Sonata in A minor, K. 300d (K. 310)". Parlance Chamber Concerts. 

External links

• Media related to Piano Sonata No. 8 (Mozart) at Wikimedia Commons
• Sonate in a KV 310 (300^d): Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Piano Sonata No. 8: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• "Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K.310/300d performed by Emil Gilels". Berlinzerberus (YouTube). 2012-10-09. 
• Irving, John (2010). Understanding Mozart's Piano Sonatas. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7546-6769-8. 
• Keefe, Simon P., ed. (2015). Mozart Studies 2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04423-4. 
• Levin, Robert D. "Mozart and the Keyboard Culture of his time" (PDF). Bar-Ilan University. 
• Moylan, Andrew L. (2014). Venerable Style, Form, and Avant-Garde in Mozart's Minor Key Piano Sonatas K. 310 and K. 457: Topic and Structure (M.Mus). University of Massachusetts Amherst. 
• Thomas, Derek (2015). "The Formal Structure and Biographical Significance of Mozart's Sonata No. 8 K.310 Movement I Allegro Maestoso" (PDF). Belmont University.